fazioli

[elevateme_returns]

is it true theyre better than steinways?

[tompilk]

its all a matter of opinion... i saw one for sale in a warehouse near us - a concert grand in excellent condition for £10,000. A great deal, but a little out of my parent;s budget. Steinways, in my opinion, are much better.
Tom

[richard black]

Yes, they're better than Steinways, as new. I've heard that they don't wear too well, but I've seldom played any that have had much use. One of the reasons Steinways are so popular (apart from the 'nothing succeeds like success' aspect) is that they do wear very well, with relatively little mainteinance. But the only meaningful sense in which one piano is ultimately 'better' than another is the sustain and Faziolis score better than Steinways. Anything to do with the sound immediately the hammer hits the string is more to do with setup than intrinsic quality. To the extent that it _is_ a function of individual piano design, both Steinway and Fazioli are very good pianos with subtle differerences that you may or may not like.

Any Fazioli concert grand selling for £10,000 is either an amazing bargain or pretty much completely shagged and in need of major restoration, I would have thought. It can't be older than about 25-30 years (that's how old the company is!) and they cost about £80,000, or something like that, new.

[lostinidlewonder]

They only make a little under a few hundred Fazioli grands a year. I played on one last week at a piano store in Perth, the top new model for a retail price is just over $200,000 AUS. The look of the piano is impressive, inside the grand you have pretty wood colors, but who really cares about the look of it. When it comes to the sound production I couldn't say that it was better than the best Steinway I've played, however of course it depends on which Steinway you are playing on and what year it was from. It doesn't have the deep bass that you might find on a Yamaha grand, it is very balanced. The upper registers are crystal clear which is really nice.  You can play a huge amount of p shadings on it too, it is very sensitive and very responsive (you can repeat single notes very fast with ease).

Still I can buy a second hand Steinway 9ft Model D for just under $80,000 so I would rather have 3 of those instead of one Fazismoli.

[pita bread]

I've performed on two Faziolis. I'm not a big fan of the ultra-crispy-bright tone and think it sounds better with the una corda permanently on to dull down and warm up the sound.

[arensky]

I played one at a NAMM show a few years ago, and was not impressed. It certainly wasn't a bad piano, but I don't understand all the fuss about them. Like pita I was annoyed by the overly brilliant upper registers and generally thin tone, although it's sustaining power was extraordinary. I much preferred the Shigeru Kawai I played that afternoon.

[thalberg]

I've never played a Fazioli.

A friend of mine who is an amazing pianist has a Fazioli at her school and HATES it.  Says she can't get  no stinking colors out of it.

[Axtremus]

A friend of mine who is an amazing pianist has a Fazioli at her school and HATES it.  Says she can't get  no stinking colors out of it.

Well, d'uh, every one knows that you can only get nice smelling fragrant colors out of a Fazioli.

(Yes and no, some Faziolis are better than some Steinways, and vice versa.)

[mikey6]

I played on one for my RCM audition, I didn't find it bright at all.  I did find it hard to adjust, I found I had to work harder to produce what I wanted.
I think I prefer the Steinway for now.